'Proof' Jamestown settlers turned to cannibalism

[Revik]

Eating the horses that was easy. When we started eating each other that was ... YOU DON'T KNOW COLD!

[Reg]

Why would they eat the settlers? They actually knew how to acquire food and plan for a harsh winter

There were several cannibalistic Native American tribes.

[Imnick]

There were several cannibalistic Native American tribes.

That's just what settlers say to justify killing people and taking their land though, after a cursory search I can't find any credible sources that prove this.

[Notchris]

That's just what settlers say to justify killing people and taking their land though, after a cursory search I can't find any credible sources that prove this.

The Anasazi seem to have practiced cannibalism. Anasazi

Keep looking, there were a couple others from the Miss. Valley and Gulf Coast areas that has evidence of it being practiced as well.

People still argue whether it was widespread or not amongst tribes, but it did happen.

[Tziva]

There were several cannibalistic Native American tribes.

I was mostly being cheeky.

[Reg]

That's just what settlers say to justify killing people and taking their land though, after a cursory search I can't find any credible sources that prove this.

Then you didn't look very hard. Most of it was funerary/ritual cannibalism, as in warriors ate the flesh off those they slayed in battle. They didn't kill just to eat people.

[shimerra]

That's just what settlers say to justify killing people and taking their land though, after a cursory search I can't find any credible sources that prove this.

What do you mean by cursory search? Because with how easy it was for me to find information the only thing I can guess is you look at the google main page and didn't actually type anything in. It wasn't common, but it was there.

[Tokru]

In before "Only in America"...

While I really (really!) like to post that sentence, cannibalism is not so rare as people think and happens/happened nearly everywhere where the surrounding conditions don't leave much options to survive.

[arcon]

Similar story, different part to add:

In one case, a man killed, "salted," and began eating his pregnant wife. Both Percy and Capt. John Smith, the colony's most famous leader, documented the account in their writings. The man was later executed.

"One amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved," Smith wrote. "Now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado'd [barbecued], I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...nnibalism.html

[OrcsRLame]

Cannibalism in Jamestown isn't exactly shocking. It's been a widely accepted theory for many years that Jamestown settlers turned to cannibalism. You gotta consider the circumstances, from 1609-1610 was called The Starving Time for a reason. It is a fact that people ate their horses, their pets and even their shoes. When you're desperate enough to eat your fucking shoes you're probably desperate enough to turn to cannibalism.

[Reg]

While I really (really!) like to post that sentence, cannibalism is not so rare as people think and happens/happened nearly everywhere where the surrounding conditions don't leave much options to survive.

I said that more as a joke because people like to say that, yet the US wasn't even a country yet. I just assumed someone would say it :P

[Laize]

I would normally suggest that it was the Native Americans in the area that ate the Jamestown settlers, bit I have seen documents from that time that suggest they turned on themselves.

In before "Only in America"...

Hey now... back then it was Britain. Can't blame Americans for that one!

[Reg]

Hey now... back then it was Britain. Can't blame Americans for that one!

That's the joke! lol I had to explain it like 3 times in 3 pages lol